The Runaway
by mike50333
Summary: After Jessie runs away, the toys engage in a determined search to find her and bring her home.
1. Sibling Conflict

**A/N: All I can honestly say is...wow. It's been well over a year now since I've worked on this story. If anyone's wondering "I've seen this before," it's because you have. This is nothing more than a reboot of the same "Runaway" story that I started in November of '09. After finally regaining a sense of motivation, here I am. The first four chapters have been revamped, and the fifth chapter that once was on site is undergoing a complete makeover. Long-short, an entirely different chain of events will take place. **

**Will I spill what? Heck, no!**  
**Will you enjoy it? Heck Yeah!**

**Disclaimer: Toy Story and all subordinate associations and properties thereof are _not _owned by me. This story is not written as a means of procuring a profit, but rather is done strictly for personal enjoyment and audience entertainment. In other words, you lawyers can't touch this!**

**Read, Revel (or Regurgitate) and Review!**

* * *

The Runaway

_Chapter One – Sibling Conflict_

It was an ordinary day at the Davis household. Andy was at school, Molly was at Daycare and Ms. Davis was off at work. As the warmth of the sun radiated throughout the space, the light revealed the busy hustle and bustle of the playroom.

Andy had gotten a new Buzz Lightyear video game the other day and Rex, of course, had to get in on it. He was doing surprisingly well, considering it was his first time playing, but once again he still could not defeat Zurg. This game was advertised to be three times harder than the previous, and while Rex was speeding through most of the levels, the Zurg Compound level proved notoriously difficult to clear. Hamm and Slinky Dog played a rousing game of Clue. The usual happened with the Potato Head "family," with Mrs. Potato Head continuing to spoil the alien children while Mr. Potato Head was trying to get away from them, to no avail of course. Bo kept herself busy by reading nursery rhymes to the pre-school toys, and Buzz kept himself occupied by reading an encyclopedia that Mrs. Davis had bought for Andy.

On Andy's bed lay the two Woody's Roundup toys, with Woody resting in a fetal position and Jessie in deep thought, laying flat on her back with her head nestled in her hands. Jessie's relationships between Woody and Buzz had become very close and intimate. To Jessie, Woody was like the loving, compassionate, and all around fun big brother she'd never had. And Buzz... well, that needed no explanation. They'd only known each other for a few weeks, but they were love stricken almost instantaneously. Buzz had finally gotten to the point where he was able to talk to Jessie in full sentences. Now, if only he could do so with his eyes open.

It had been about three weeks now since the famous rescue of Jessie. In the span of those three weeks, the exuberant cowgirl wasted no time exploring practically every nook and cranny of the house. In the process, both Woody and her boyfriend Buzz must've had at least three heart attacks. Because Jessie was very spontaneous in her actions, she tended to run head first into her adventures, which didn't always end too well – especially when she accidentally fell into the washing machine two days prior. It was just her luck that not only was the washer empty, thus causing her to suffer a nasty blow to the head, but it just happened to be laundry day. She wasn't discovered missing until she'd gone through both the washer _and _the dryer. But on the plus side, she smelled like lavender, and she'd never felt cleaner in her life, though it took a couple hours of gargling mouthwash to get the soap taste out of her mouth...

Jessie still struggled with the painful reminiscence of her past. While she did enjoy her new life in the Davis household, she still could not shake the memories of the heartbreak that she felt in her abandonment. Thankfully for her, Jessie found a means of solace in Woody.

She and the sheriff had grown very close; developing something of a sibling bond that she swore couldn't be broken by anything. One of her favorite pastimes was playing games with the Woody's Roundup star. Unfortunately for the cowboy, Jessie sometimes didn't take defeat too well… and she faced defeat quite often when playing with Woody. So far, the only thing that she'd successfully beaten him at was Connect Four, though that really only happened when sympathy settled in on Woody's part and he let her win; this act of generosity backfired on him when she dropped the entire chip-holding platform on top of his head. She has yet to beat him at checkers or Clue, and while they were still fun to play, it was very frustrating that he kept beating her...

After her repeated losses to Woody in games of cognition, she figured that it was time to level the playing field. Instead of playing games where patience and strategy were key, areas where Woody was clearly superior to Jessie, they'd play some games that involved pure, unadulterated physical activity, her own greatest strength. That's when it hit her – She could set up an event where they played a sequence of games, something like a tournament!

_Now what games can we play?_ Jessie thought to herself. Tag and Hide and Seek seemed a bit immature, even if they _were_ toys. For nearly ten minutes she just sat there with a hand wrapped around her chin, tapping the lower tip of her face as she tried hard to think of _something. Anything!_ Then she realized-

"Duh! I'm a Texan! We do plenty of stuff down there!" Jessie exclaimed. The ideas finally started to flood in. Lassoing, bull riding, the bucking horse, pig wrestling, yodeling – they just kept coming and coming. She started to become overwhelmed by the vast selection of activities. In the end, she decided to limit the tournament to three events: the bucking horse, lassoing and a wrestling contest, just without the pig.

Yup, one of the events that the yodeling cowgirl had settled on was a wrestling match between her and Woody. Jessie decided on this when she remembered the fight that Woody and she had back at Al's apartment when Prospector Pete framed her for ruining Woody's attempt at an escape. Because Woody had thought it was her, when she denied it he accused Jessie of lying. This, of course, made Jessie hotter than rattlesnake oil fresh out of a burning kettle, and the rest is history. At the time, she really resented Woody, but in retrospect, she found the whole thing to be quite funny._ Poor Sheriff was so helpless without his one arm. Hopefully, he'll fight better with both of 'em,_ Jessie thought, chuckling softly at the memory.

Jessie now was absolutely ecstatic about her idea. In fact, she was so energized that she just _had_ to share it with someone. And there was a certain cowboy that she felt had gotten enough sleep.

"_Woody. Woody? Wooooody!"_ Jessie whispered, rocking his arm softly. She tried to wake him up gently, even going as far as tickling his throat, but when he failed to exhibit so much as a tiny twitch, she realized that this was getting her nowhere.

"Okay, cowboy…" Jessie groaned. She climbed under the bed and pulled out Andy's echoing megaphone. Buzz happened to look up from reading as Jessie positioned the megaphone next to Woody's ear. _Oh no_, Buzz thought as she inhaled deeply.

What happened next could only be compared to an exaggerated death scene from the Final Destination series. When Jessie did her famous yodel through the megaphone, the sound bounced off the walls and flooded the entire room as the vocal turned everyone's attention to the bed. Being the unfortunate soul at the epicenter of the loud yodeling blast, Woody screamed and jumped up with a start as his plastic eardrums were hammered by the sudden and explosive flood of sound waves. Still disoriented because of the loud and abrupt awakening, he fell off the side of the bed and landed on top of R/C. This in turn caused the remote control car to awaken as well and, just as startled as Woody was, it darted from behind the bed, speeding into the open of the playroom.

By this time, every toy was aware of what had just happened and was stunned. Several of the toys, including Buzz and Jessie, were holding back laughter. The R/C car came to a sudden stop and Woody was propelled towards the side of the bed. In a bizarre feat that seemed to defy every single law of physics, Woody bounced off of the bed and flew at an angle straight into one of the wall mounted shelves. When the sheriff doll hit the shelf, it began to weaken. Woody's unwanted high flying adventure finally came to an end when he fell to the floor under the shelf that he had hit.

He shortly started to come to, immediately jerking his head up to try and identify his assailant. There on the bed was Jessie, megaphone in one hand and the other slapped on her mouth in a vain attempt to keep her laughter suppressed. Inexplicable rage began to build up within the sheriff, and Jessie took notice as her hidden smile and muffled laughter quickly fled from her. She jumped down off the bed and began to cautiously approach him. She was about to try and explain what had prompted her cause of this undesired disaster when the shelf that Woody impacted fell from the hinges.

"Woody, look out!" Jessie shouted at the top of her lungs, but was too late. Books upon books began to fall on top of Woody, practically burying him alive. Several of the toys experienced a brief moment of Deja Vù; it almost seemed like official retribution for what the cowboy did to the space ranger about a year ago. Both Jessie and Buzz sprang into action, frantically pulling off as many of the books as they could before Woody broke through the remaining few that lay on him.

"Ohmygosh- Woody, I-I'm so sorry! I-I-I didn't mean for that to happen! It j-just-" Jessie stammered, desperately trying to defuse Woody. Unfortunately, it was too late; the powdered keg that was Woody's temper had already blown sky-high.

"WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?" Woody screamed, cutting Jessie off.

"Woody, I wasn't thinking, I-" Jessie continued to stammer, fear now showing through clearly in her face.

"Of course you weren't thinking, you never think!" Woody was only centimeters from Jessie's face now. "Only an overhyped moron like you would scream into a megaphone to try and wake somebody up! Darn it Jessie, you could've killed me! You need to stop acting like a stupid child and grow up!"

Jessie's voice started to break up. "Woody…I'm…I..." Jessie was trying with all her might to get out an apology, but she was just hurt to the core. Tears were streaming down her face and her whole body started to quiver. She grasped hold of her arms, as if that was all she could do to keep them from detaching. She could barely speak, her voice nothing but a raspy whisper now as she fought back the sobs that were amassing in her throat. She was overtaken with anxiety and confusion as she continued to try and utter her plea for forgiveness.

"I'm…I'mso-…I'm sori-" was all was able to manage from her tight throat.

"Oh, what, 'I'm sorry'? Is that what you're trying to say? After what you've done, that's all you have to say? " Woody cut her off again, his arms flailing. "You know what, you're nothing but a burden- you've always been a burden! I swear bringing you here was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life!"

"Woody…"

Jessie couldn't even move. Not since Emily left her had she felt so worthless and alone. Once again, the memories returned. The pain from years of neglect and despair caused by the abandon of her owner was now slamming her hard. She fell to her knees, and doubled over as she began to quietly sob.

Every toy in the room had watched the scene unfold up until now, and every one of them were paralyzed with shock at Woody's reaction. Even Buzz, Jessie's boyfriend, Woody's best friend was baffled by what had just happened. His initial instinct was to give Woody a piece of his mind, not to mention a good thrashing, but he knew that this would only escalate things further out of control. He tried to console Jessie, but this only caused her to retreat to Andy's closet.

"Oh man… how are we gonna solve _this_ problem?" Buzz asked himself quietly.

In Andy's closet, Jessie hid in the darkest, furthest corner that she could find. She was sitting with her arms around her legs, clutching them as tightly as possible to her chest. She couldn't be seen, but she could be heard sobbing and saying only one thing, over and over…

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"


	2. Jessie's Decision

Chapter Two – Jessie's Decision

The next day seemed like a normal day on the surface. The human members of the Davis family were about their usual business with Andy at school, Molly at daycare and Mrs. Davis at work. However, there were two distinct differences between yesterday and today. Yesterday, the sun was shining, the toys were bustling and full of life, and everything seemed perfectly normal. Today however was a whole 'nother story…

Today, storm clouds lumbered over the city, and a nasty thunderstorm began to brew. The thunderclaps could be heard in the distance, slowly growing louder as the storm drew nearer to the house. This storm was a perfect reflection the storm that had erupted within the playroom yesterday. It was a pivotal moment for every toy in that room, but the events of yesterday affected nobody as much they had affected Jessie.

Earlier in the morning, still in the closet and distraught from Woody's fiery rant, Jessie tried to figure out what she could have done to cause this.

"I just don't understand… what have I done to make him treat me like this?" She asked, her voice still quivering. She winced each time she thought about the outbursts.

'_When are you ever going to stop acting like a kid and grow up?'_

This statement stood out more than anything else. She derived that she had been acting too childishly for Woody's liking. But that still didn't make any sense. Just the day before, she had acted very childish and precarious, and it seemed as if Woody couldn't get enough of it. He almost seemed to thrive off of her silliness.

'_Maybe he's been faking all this time and only put up with me for the sake of my happiness. Maybe I've overstayed my welcome here…'_

* * *

Later that day, Woody sat at the foot of Andy's bed, staring towards the closet to which his friend had retreated. The sheriff doll was overwhelmed with guilt and shame at his outburst at Jessie. He knew that Jessie was still battling the pain of Emily leaving her, and he was sure that his rage filled rant hadn't helped her in that regard.

"Who knows what she's going through right now…" Woody said with a deep sigh.

"Well, I can't say I know, but I think it's a safe bet that she's hurting really bad right now." It was Buzz.

"Buzz, I am so sorry. I didn't mean a word of what I said to Jessie, I swear I didn't! I don't even know what happened, it just seemed like I couldn't-… I mean, I understand if you hate me for this, but-"

"Woody, calm down. I know you didn't mean anything by it. But you may want to explain things to a certain cowgirl." Buzz's voice was calm and reassuring. "But first, do you think you can tell me what got you so mad at Jessie in the first place? It may help to have that cleared up when you go to apologize to her."

Buzz's words of wisdom helped Woody to settle himself. As the reason for his explosion surfaced in his mind, the sheriff doll sighed, his body pitching forward with guilt and shame. After a moment of hesitation, he proceeded to explain.

"I wasn't mad at Jessie because she had nearly killed me…I was mad at her because she had killed Andy…" The cowboy refused to make eye-contact with the space ranger, who stared at Woody with his face twisted in disbelief and confusion.

"Woody, what are you talking about? How the heck could Jessie have killed Andy when we just saw him leave for school thirty minutes ago?" Woody made eye contact with Buzz now as his stenciled brows dipped towards his pointed nose.

"I don't mean literally, I mean in a dream that I had yesterday…"

* * *

_Woody's dream yesterday afternoon would register as either a bad omen or a good excuse to see a shrink. In his dream, Jessie was on another one of her adventures. She had walked across the street in an expansion her exploration territory. Jessie knew that this sort of risk was forbidden, both in the dream and in real life, but in the dream she disregarded it._

_As Jessie reached the other side of the street, she heard a voice call out her name from behind. She looked back to see Andy stepping out from the front door of his house. Shocked by the sudden presence of the boy, she quickly fell limp on the opposite sidewalk. Andy spotted her and ran across the street without checking to make sure it was clear. The next thing Jess heard was the sporadic honking of a car horn and the squealing of tires on the worn asphalt. As the cowgirl pushed up on her arms to look forward, Jessie watched in horror as a van, despite its best efforts to swerve out of the way, hit Andy, sending him flying 12 feet in the air before coming back to earth. As Andy released a pain filled scream, Woody, who was sitting on the window ledge, snapped his head towards the street to see what was going on. His heart dropped like a rock as he saw his owner lying on the ground, lifeless as the ragdolls with which he once played. _

_As devastating as this sudden turn of events turned out to be, what really caused a blow to the toys' hearts was the fact that the van turned out to be none other than that of Andy's mom. She was on her way home when she remembered at the last second that she needed to pick up a new backpack for Andy – school was starting tomorrow, and it somehow slipped her mind. Andy had run into her blind spot, and by the time she saw the kid in front of the vehicle, it was too late. As it registered to Mrs. Davis what had happened, she ran out of her car to see if the person she had accidently hit was okay. She broke down in tears as she beheld the lifeless body of her only son on the pavement. Unbeknownst to her, the Woody's Roundup members had joined her in her sobbing, their hearts aching in sadness, anger and fear. For one, a best friend lost forever. A future suddenly made uncertain. For another, a painful reminder of a hideous past; an old wound made fresh again._

* * *

It was at that moment in the dream that Jessie had awoken Woody with a start. Woody was already full of anxiety and anger, due to the realism of the dream. Because he had awoken so suddenly, he wasn't able to completely disconnect from the dream he had. The rest was history.

"I understand now," Buzz said as he put a friendly hand on Woody's shoulder. "We better get to Jessie and explain this to her- the sooner, the better," the space toy reasoned as his eyes slinked to the closet.

"You're right" Woody said, as tears started to well up in his eyes.

They both went to the closet so that they could straighten things out, but when they went into the corner that she'd fled to, the cowgirl wasn't there. In her place was a sticky note. It was a bit hard to read because of the tear stains on the paper, but the sheriff was still able to make out the words.

_Dear Woody,_

_By the time you read this, I will be long gone. I know that it hasn't been easy putting up with me and my silly shenanigans lately. I have dreamed for so many years that I would be able to be with a family that would be able to love me and care for me. I understand now that those wants are selfish. I am truly sorry and hope you can forgive me for all the trouble I've caused._

_I know that you and Andy both deserve better, and I wish the best for you both._

_Farewell forever…_

_Your friend,_

_Jessie_

Buzz and Woody looked at each other in disbelief.

"What have I done..."


	3. Captured

**A/N: Had to do a lot of cutbacks on this chappy, killing off some fat. Hopefully the flab's gone, but if you find anything, let me know.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Captured

It had been about forty minutes since Jessie left the Davis household. The rain still poured like water from Angels Falls and at this point she was thoroughly drenched, her clothes soaked and her red threaded hair a matted mess. The storm had all but died down. She winced with each thunderclap that she heard. She had never enjoyed thunderstorms. She'd had a fear of thunderstorms ever since her time in storage, when a nasty storm hit the city on the first night of her 'imprisonment.'

Jessie made an attempt to ride out the tempest by waiting under a neighbor's tree as she tried to make sense of the events from yesterday. She still couldn't grasp hold of the situation. She couldn't understand why Woody hated her so, especially when he seemed to be so embracing of her before. _I just can't believe that this is happening again… _Jessie thought. For the longest, she battled against her desire to breakdown in tears, trying desperately to ward off the hurt that seemed to plague her so, but at last she gave up. Exhausted from warding off trying to ward off those memories all night long, she yielded and allowed her mind to be flooded with the sorrowful memories of her history. She simply forced herself to endure them as she cried.

The storm was over now, though the clouds refused to break. Sid walked out the house, sulking as he took a bag of trash to the curb-side dumpster.

"I hate doing chores" muttered Sid, as he threw the garbage in. "Sid, you have to pull your own weight around here now since I got my new job. The new house won't take care of itself, you know!" the boy mocked, still standing by the trash receptacle, placing his hands on his hips and craning his neck from side-to-side as he annoyingly impersonated his mother. "I swear, this bites; why the heck do we have to move just because she gets a job at some stupid toy store?"

He turned around to go back in the house when he noticed something odd. There was a cowgirl doll just lying there under the tree in his yard. Where the heck had that come from? The answer didn't matter to Sid. What mattered is that he finally had a torture subject. His mom had really clamped down on Sid's access to his sister's toys. He had his own, but what he enjoyed more than anything was dismantling, bleaching, and otherwise destroying whatever he could get his hands on…that wasn't his. Besides, most of his toys were turned into mechanical miniature mutants already. Ever since a couple years back, when that Woody doll freaked the skin off of him, he had a particular resentment for cowboy dolls. While this wasn't exactly what he would've preferred, the Western attire was more than enough to get his evilly creative juices flowing. He grabbed the cowgirl doll with a demented look on his face, as he began to conjure up what dastardly things he would have in store for his _guest_.

Back at the house, Woody was sitting in the window sill. The playroom was filled with tension and hatred towards Woody earlier on, but when Buzz explained everything, the mood turned from anger to remorse. They all could understand Woody's fear of losing Andy. He had suffered a nightmare just a few weeks back about being abandoned and cast aside just before he was stolen. It made sense that he would blow up on Jessie with a dream like that.

Bo climbed up to join him on the window sill. She was the first person that Buzz had told about the situation. She knew about the close bond that he and Jessie had developed in such a short time span. The shepherdess felt that she could somewhat relate to what Woody was going through, seeing as she faced the possibility of losing _him _multiple times now.

Bo stood next to him, stroking his hat. "How are you holding up?" she asked, using her tender and maternal voice to try and settle his nerves.

"I just can't help but feel like a mule for what I did to Jessie," Woody responded, looking longingly out the window. "I knew full well that she was still combating her hurts and fears. I should've been better able to control my anger, even if I did have that dream." Woody breathed a deep, dreary sigh. "The worst part is that I may never get the chance to make things right with her now. She'll never want to see my face again after this, not that I could ever find her again anyway. She's no doubt long gone by now…"

"Well, I wouldn't quite say that, Sheriff," responded Bo with an unexpected hint of optimism in her voice, causing Woody to look up at her. "You won't have to look very far for Jess," she said as she pointed towards the next door neighbor's yard.

As he looked, sure enough, there was Jessie, sitting under a tree.

_I don't know where she was planning to go, but she must have decided to wait out the storm under that tree_, Woody concluded. He was elated. It wasn't too late to make things right. Then, reality quickly stripped Woody of his optimism as he saw Sid. He had just taken a bag of trash to the trash on the street corner. He then watched in horror as Sid spotted and picked up Jessie. The distance was great between them, but Woody could to see well enough notice an evil smirk creep onto Sid's face as he picked her up. He knew exactly what that meant.

"Oh my God- Buzz!" Woody was frantic as he jumped down from the window sill.

"Woody, what is it?" Buzz asked.

"I've found Jessie!"

"You have? That's great!" Buzz replied, unspeakable joy shining on his face.

"No, it's not great, not great at all! Sid has her!" Woody retorted. He usually was a lot more calm and calculative of situations such as these, but his emotions got the better of him this time.

"Come on! We've got to save her _NOW!_"

"Woody, calm down. We need to develop a plan-"

"We don't have time to develop a plan! You know what Sid will do to her, Buzz. I can't allow that monster to hurt her- I won't!"

Buzz backhanded Woody, the dizziness of his head spinning like a top causing him to nearly hit the floor.

"I know the urgency that you feel to rush in now, but you have to understand, we can't afford to just go boom-rush into that house. If we do that, and something goes wrong, we might just make things worse for Jessie."

Woody glared at Buzz, not willing to yield, but also knowing that he wouldn't be able to persuade the Space Ranger otherwise. Not now, at least.

"Alright, fine."

* * *

Sid had taken Jessie up to his room, and threw her onto his craftsman table. There, he kept his "Monster Toy Collection", as he called it. He was planning to make Jessie the latest addition to the collection. As Sid left his room, he went into the garage, looking to see what tools he could use to create his latest masterpiece. Jessie awakened to nothing less than a horror house of a room. The only light available in the room was a blinding spotlight that shone upon the table. She beheld in terror what she could see in the space in which she was held prisoner. There were toy parts, severed heads, arms and legs and various accessories strewn all across the room. She couldn't decide what she hated worse: the fact that she was in near-complete darkness, or the fact that she was stuck inside a toy slaughterhouse. Jessie didn't know what this kid had in store for her, but she sure as everything wasn't going to stay and find out.


	4. Nowhere to Run

**A/N: For those who read the original Chapter 4, there are some major changes at the start. Not immediate, but you'll know it when you hit it. Hopefully, it's a lot better than before.**

Chapter 4: Nowhere to Run

Jessie wasn't sure how she was getting out of that house, but she could at least try to hide and buy some time while she figured out a plan. Unfortunately, her options were limited. She couldn't leave the room; the door was closed and locked, and the overhead vents were bolted shut. And even if she _could _find a way out of the room, the doors to all the rooms on her floor were closed. The cowgirl had no choice. She'd have to hide in Sid's room and either find another way out of the room, or hope for Sid to slip up and leave the door open the next time he left.

She got up off of the table and, using the docked chair, jumped down to the floor. Scared out of her wits, she scurried to the baseboard of her captor's divan.

"I obviously can't hide under that thing for long- it'll probably be the first place he'll look." Jessie concluded. Naturally, the Toy gods had it in for her. Not two seconds after having said this, Jessie could hear Sid's feet stamping upon the hardwood planks of the staircase. He was coming back and fast. Without a single thought, she dove under the bed. Sid walked in. Jessie poked her head from under the bed lining just enough to see what he had with him. She saw a small wooden cross made of what looked like popsicle sticks, a hammer and some nails.

Jessie's stenciled brows bobbed downward from their original flat-line position. _"What does he think this is, a crucifixion?" _Now at the table, Sid tossed the items onto his table and ducked into one of the collection bins beneath his study. From this bin, he retrieved a welder's mask and blowtorch. Being mindful to keep the torch a few feet's distance away from the wooden items near him, he tested the torch, an evil grin sweeping over his face as the small blue razor of flame illuminated his eyes. Jessie shuddered at the blue glow on Sid's features. He was turning out to be even scarier than that guy in the phantom's mask from the Scream movies, and _that_ was saying something, because Jessie didn't usually scare easy.

Sid had now arose and looked back to at the table. His eyes scanned the space delicately from left to right, taking mental inventory of his stock. Nearing the middle of the table, he noticed that something was missing. His most important item.

"Where's that stupid doll? I know I put that stupid thing right here!"

As his brows dug hard into his face, Sid went into a twitching frenzy as he searched for his victim. He jerked himself under the table again, yanking the bins from their places and into the middle of the floor. He threw everything out of the bins. Old "failures" of gruesome toy disconfigurations spewed out all across the room. As they flew into the air and smacked the ground again, each of the incomplete abominations exploded with gears and screws and other attachments. Soon, the entire space was saturated with toy dismemberments.

From her spot under the bed, Jessie was in a convulsing trance. She was terrified at the playtime gore that surrounded her (all that was missing was an explosion of red dye). It had a train wreck effect on her. She couldn't bear to see this wretched, barbaric display of toy mutilation, yet her eyes couldn't be torn away from it.

_I have _got _to get out of here! __**Now!**_

Jessie crawled to the front edge of the bed, looking from under the baseboard towards the front-left corner of the room where the door was. To her elation, the door was wide open. She knew it was a long shot, and the chances of being seen were almost absolute, but there was _no way_ in the world she was going to stay in this horror show of a room!

She ducked from under the bed and made a mad dash for the exit. She was almost halfway there within a short matter of seconds, but that's when things went from hopeful to "God Dangit!" in a flash. From what looked like nowhere, a horde of items came crashing down onto the floor before her. She let out an instinctive yelp as she jumped back from the enormous projectiles. Standing frozen in trance, it took her a few seconds to register what'd just happened, and then it hit her.

She'd just screamed. In a room with a human in it. With no other soundsto possibly buffer it. Jessie snapped her head behind her and looked up to see Sid staring down at her, mouth agape.

The cowgirl stared back at him, mouth also agape and eyes bugging out of their sockets.

_Gadburnit…_

* * *

"Okay, so let me get this straight: Your plan consists of us ringing the door bell, waiting and hoping for _someone_ to answer the door and walk outside, and us just slipping on in?" Woody confirmed, speaking in a sadistic tone. "Buzz, don't get me wrong. You have had some great ideas in the past, but this has got to be the dumbest plan I have ever heard in my life!"

Buzz looked at Woody with annoyance written all over his face. "Well, what have you thought of, oh wise one?" Buzz replied sarcastically.

"Oh, I don't know… We could try the doggie door, an open window – ANYTHING BUT THAT!" Woody screamed in retort.

"Oh yeah, that's smart. Just waltz into a random window where someone might see us, or walk into the backyard where that pitbull could eat us."

"It's a pug, Buzz", Woody flatly replied.

"What's the difference?"

Woody shoved the breath from his lungs and his shoulders slumped. "Whatever- forget how we get in. What do we do when we do get inside?"

"What do you mean, what do we do? We find Jessie and get out of there!" Buzz replied sardonically.

"Huh. And you were slapping _me_ for not having a plan?" Woody replied, returning in kind the Space Ranger's sarcastic tone. "I mean how do we find Jessie without getting caught?"

"Well, it'll help if we can concentrate our search in a specific area," Buzz concluded.

"Sid most likely would have Jessie held in his room, which I would guess is upstairs."

"Hmm…that's a start. Do you know how to arrive the milieu, where the staircase would be in association to the entrance?"

"…You really need to lay off the dictionary reading, Buzz," Woody droned. "And _no_, I don't know where it is. The last time I was at Sid's house was when I was rescuing _you_, and that was back when Andy and Sid both lived on El Paso Drive, remember?"

"Well in that case, we should-"

"Buzz, I don't mean to sound brash, but let's face it," Woody sighed, cutting into Lightyear's statement. "We don't know how long Jessie's going to last in Sid's house. It'd be our luck that when we finally have a strategy mapped out, Jessie will already be on a rocket headed straight into the moon. We just can't afford to wait any longer- we have to go. Now!"

"Again, I understand, Woody, but we can't just go in there blind. We'll only make things worse for Jessie," Buzz replied.

"But if we wait too long, it'll be too late! We can always work on the plan as we go along- besides, that's how it all worked out the when you rescued me and Jessie last time, isn't it?"

Buzz sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, the cowboy was right. Both during his rescue of Jessie and Woody, and the sherriff's…grudging rescue of him, they_ were _determining their moves as they went along. Besides, he was also starting to get the feeling that they should get going soon. Thinking on their feet may _be_ their best chance of reaching Jessie before Sid had her blown up, or worse.

"…Alright Woody, you win. Let's go." Buzz finally yielded to his Western compadré. "Slinky Dog, get into position. Woody and I have a toy to save."

* * *

Jessie stood ever still as she and Sid exchanged baffled stares, but her mind was in a state of unabated panic. _This __**cannot**__ be happening__**! **__All these years, I've never been seen alive, and the first person who does is the one guy in the entire world that makes a hobby out of crucifying toys?_

"I knew it. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Toys really are alive!" Sid was all but jumping for joy at realizing he wasn't a crazy, hallucinations seeing freak, all the while holding that evil, Grinch-like grin. "Oh man, and all I was gonna do was burn off your face. But now I'ma burn all of you! It'd be just like burning a real person, only without the possibility of prison. Hmm, I wonder if toys scream like real people…"

Jessie simply gawked back at him. _Great. He hates toys _and _he's a homicidal nutcase!_

"…I'm gonna need some gasoline, a slab of concrete so I don't burn up the lawn-"

"Oh, the heck you will!" Jessie finally yelled as she interrupted Sid. Everything was telling her to shut-up, but anger was building and consuming her fear. Besides, the boy already knew she could move and stand up on her own. Why hold back on the voice modulator? "Why the heck do you wanna do this to me anyway? What do you hope to gain from this?"

"Satisfaction, enjoyment, pleasure- take your pick." Sid's aura seemed to get blacker with each passing second, and Jessie could sense it.

"What kind of satisfaction could you _possibly_ get from destroying toys?" Jessie's anger was growing stronger. Her face was turning beet red, and her fists were balled. Her arms were stretched at her sides.

"The kind most teenagers get when they're bored playing with you stupid useless sacks of cloth. I just happen to have more of a passion for destruction and death than other kids."

"You're nothing but a monster…" Jessie replied through her gritted teeth, her voice beginning to quiver. "You can't possibly have a soul. Nobody with a soul would treat a toy like this."

"And your point is…what?" Sid replied with a roll of the eyes and a dismissive shrug. "My mom tossed out _her_ old doll back when she was in _her_ teens. In fact, she told me that she was embarrassed to be with that stupid thing by that time. She just dumped it in the donations box and drove off, merry as can be."

Jessie's frown leveled off. The cowgirl felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach as all her breath left her body. She stood motionless at this revelation. _No, he-he's lying. There's no _way _this brat is telling the truth, _s-he thought. _I know Emily left me in that box, but..._

Jessie was hurt to the core. Part of her didn't want to figure out if this really was Emily, but at the same time, her curiosity wouldn't coincide with her fears. She finally gave in.

"What's her name?" Jessie asked in a fierce demanding tone, her voice still choked up.

"What?" Sid asked, confused.

Her anger was still high as she snapped the question at Sid again: "What is her name?"

There was a moment of silence before Sid responded.

"Emily. My mom's name is Emily." Sid had one eyebrow raised as if to say _what does it matter?_

Upon hearing the name of her old owner, Jessie's knees buckled. Upon hitting the ground, she began to quiver uncontrollably. Her brain went completely blank. She tried to stand back up, to speak, to do _something…anything,_ but to no avail. Her bright, green eyes were enveloped by a sudden explosion of darkness. Her cotton-stuffed limbs fell to numbness. The oxygen in her nonexistent lungs went into full retreat… And then…nothing.


End file.
